


The Whirring Of The Bullets

by noice_smort



Category: Bandstand - Oberacker/Oberacker & Taylor
Genre: F/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, World War II, hearing loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 19:17:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18058469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noice_smort/pseuds/noice_smort
Summary: The whirring of the bullets that had flown by him for just under four years never really left him, there was always a constant and dull ringing in his ears. But happens when one day the whirring of the bullets stops?





	The Whirring Of The Bullets

The whirring of the bullets that had flown by him for just under four years never really left him, there was always a constant and dull ringing in his ears and it usually seemed to amplify when he was triggered and had a flashback. At a certain point he had accepted that this was something that he was going to have to live with for the rest of his life, it was annoying sure, but in the grand scheme of things he'd survive. After all, he knew so many men that came home much worse then he did. The only time everything seemed to fade was when he was playing with the band or when Julia was singing. He loved Julia's singing, it was his favorite sound on Earth, and it never failed to pull him from the darkest pits of his mind. He relied so heavily on her voice just to get him through the day. 

The band was playing at Oliver's in Cleveland, it had been about three years since the war ended, two years since the big contest that they turned into what they thought was going to be a suicide mission and ended up being the best decision of any of their careers and about a year and a half since Donny and Julia had started dating. The two had never been happier, and everything, for once in Donny's life, had been going well. But like the saying "when it rains, it pours", everything in Donny's life came crashing down spectacularly. The gig was a normal one, they would play a set of their best hits, and some other mainstream favorites and that would be it. They always ended their shows with Welcome Home, it always felt like they were giving a nod to all the veteran's both those who didn't make it home and those still working and reintegrating into society. 

The set had started out just fine, but by the end of it he was struggling to make out Julia's voice and the music coming from any of his band-mates instruments, getting through solely through the vibrations in floor and muscle memory. Anything that he could hear was dull and felt like static, like when a radio is having trouble picking up the frequencies. When the song ended, he was gripping his piano with such a ferocity that his knuckles had turned white. He never thought he'd see the day that he'd wish to hear the whirring of the bullets that seemed to never leave his ears.

When the set ended Donny would usually address the crowd and thank them for coming out and telling those in the audience that they would stick around for a bit and meet with any military families in the audience. Julia turned to see Donny and did not expect to see panic written all over his face and holding his piano like it was a life line. She knew that something was wrong and she needed to get him off that stage and away from everyone as quickly as possible, she gave the closing remarks that night and went over to Donny quickly pulling them into a room behind the stage where no one else was. 

"Donny what's wrong? Talk to me." Julia spoke to him softly, noting as the panic stripped away some and he seemed to relax just a little bit. 

"I couldn't hear." He whispered, "I couldn't hear you, or any of the guys, or the crowd, I couldn't hear anything!" The panic solidifying in stomach as the reality of the situation hit him. 

"Ok! Ok! First you need to calm down, now is not a good time to work yourself into a panic attack." Julia wrapped her arms around the distraught man in front of her, one hand carding through his hair and the other rubbing up his back in even strokes. A technique she had found to be most helpful when helping him through a panic attack. Within a few minutes the shaking in his shoulders had stopped and his breathing had almost returned to normal. "We'll go to the doctor tomorrow and figure this out. Maybe it was a fluke, no reason to worry when we don't if anything's even wrong."

Doctor's unfortunately concurred that something was indeed wrong, his hearing had been affected by the bomb that had gone off in his trench that he had just so narrowly escaped from. They said that it was hard to tell if whether or not he would lose his hearing entirely, or if it would just get dull and static like it had at the performance. The couple had had a long talk when they came home from the doctor's, both terrified out the uncertain future in front of them. Donny had given Julia an out, like he had so many other times in their relationship when he seemed to add another layer of emotional baggage to the relationship, to leave if she needed. Claiming that she didn't deserve so much better then being tied down to his burdens. Julia on the other hand had never felt so strongly for the man who stumbled into her life and turned it around in a way she never expected. After getting Donny to realize that Julia was in this for the long haul, and that she didn't plan on leaving him any time soon, the pair decided to face their issue head on. They picked up books upon books about hearing and taught themselves sign language, just in case that day came and Donny could no longer hear the bickering of his band-mates, or the stories that military families told them after performances, the voice of the woman that he had come to love and the bullets would finally stopped whirring. 

As a whole the their lives didn't change drastically, they continued to play gigs and write songs, and generally live their best possible lives. Donny's potential hearing loss was never an issue, until it was. He found in rooms that were just a little to crowded that he couldn't separate all the white noise and everything just went silent at some point. He remembered the first time it happened, it had been after a performance at Oliver's and there happened to be more people in the crowd then usual. As he went around and mingled with those that had came to see it before, he found it harder and harder to differentiate between all the noise. The worst moment had been when he saw Julia say something to him but he couldn't hear what she said. He was terrified that he would never here the voice that had helped him survive one of the darkest times of his life again. 

Julia's worst fears were coming true as she tried to get Donny's attention, but couldn't because he couldn't hear her. She had seen from across the room that he was getting overwhelmed with everyone in the room and was finding it difficult to sort through all the sounds, as she approached him she noticed that his hands had inadvertently started signing what he was saying despite the fact that no one around him would have been able to understand. She knew that she had to get him away from all the noise and let his mind take a break, before doing so she made sure he was looking at him as she signed that she loved him a visual reminder of the words his brain was unable to process. Once he was away from everyone and the white noise had stopped and the whirring of the bullets returned to his ears he felt like he could breathe for the first time in hours. 

About six months after the doctor's had told Donny that he might lose his hearing all together the band picked up sign language. They had confronted Julia after noticing in recent days she talked to Donny she was making specific hand movements as well, and Jimmy had eventually picked up that it was sign language. Julia had explained to them what doctors had told them only so many months before and the band learned sign language so that way Donny would never have to struggle to communicate with them either. After all he was the leader of their band. They found themselves using it when they played at particularly large venues and the noises once again become harder to separate. 

Down the line when Julia and Donny get married, she signs the vows she tells him in the hands that hold hers because just in case he can't remember the voice that vows to spend the rest of their lives together, he'll be able to remember the feeling of hands that promised the same thing just as firm and sure. And when they eventually have kids, they teach them sign language as well because as the days go on Donny's hearing seems to get worse. 

Donny never loses his hearing entirely, the jokes and arguments that his band-mates tell aren't lost, he is able to continue to hear the voice of the woman who loved him despite all his flaws and all he's done and two kids who think that he's the best dad ever. The whirring of the bullets never leave him, they still disappear when he plays on stage with the friends that became family or when he hears the voice of the woman he loves sings the songs he wrote. The whirring keeps him human, it reminds him of what he saw and what he can lose, and as time goes on he's grateful that they stay because they no longer signal fighting between men who would rather be somewhere else, or the mass killing of those who were of a different religion. Now the whirring signifies the sounds of the family that surrounds him, and who will stick with him through anything. And he is forever grateful for the family that he has built around him and the distant sounds of war that never leave him.

**Author's Note:**

> So I tumblr post about what would happen if one day Donny started having issues with hearing because of the grenade that exploded literally feet away from him and this is kinda what my brain came up with. If you follow me because of Brooklyn Nine Nine, this story is based on the musical Bandstand which is amazing and you should check it out if you haven't heard of it. Let me know if you liked it and I should write more bandstand stuff or just stick with B99. Also Star's Can't Shine Without Darkness will be updated in the next few days, I'm just finalizing my ideas for the next chapter. I hope y'all enjoy. ~Katie


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